


Light Her Up

by TimmyJaybird



Series: Ground Zero [7]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-23
Updated: 2013-11-23
Packaged: 2018-01-02 09:39:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1055264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TimmyJaybird/pseuds/TimmyJaybird
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bruce was sure he'd know if anyone was coming into the parlor- otherwise there was no way he'd let the Joker tangle with him so obscenely. But can he really be sure of his senses? Will it even matter once night falls and Gotham is up in flames?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Light Her Up

Alfred thinks Harely is looking better as she walks around in her jeans and one of Bruce’s shirts. Her hair is a tangled blonde mess, but she’s got an alertness to her eyes that he hadn’t seen the night before.

Even if she _is_ the clown’s right-hand-girl, Alfred thinks there might be something underneath her, under the make-up abnd grin and wild eyes. She was a doctor once, after all. He can appreciate her intelligence.

And her courtesy as he handed her a plate of steaming scrambled eggs, and she gives him an overly zealous, “thank you!” and sits down to eat. She seemed unphased by the fact that she was sitting in the Wayne penthouse, which is a bit strange, but not altogether unnerving.

She is the only one sitting at the sleek counter in the kitchen. The Joker had declined food and had disappeared back into the parlor- to stand at the window and just gaze down at Gotham, the wheels and gears of his mind _turning_. Bruce was settled on the couch with coffee number two, scanning the news for any reports of the past night’s event-

And keeping an eye on the clown. He wasn’t comfortable just having him wonder around the Penthouse.

“How is your head?” Alfred asked as he settled down across from Harley with his own cup of coffee.

“Not too shabby,” she said, reaching up to push some of her hair away from her eyes. “Considering all that happened last night, I’m _prett-y_ lucky. Probably was just a minor concussion.”

“Any other aches?”

“Plenty,” she said before shoving a fork full of the eggs into her mouth. After she had swallowed she grabbed her shirt and yanked it up, exposing the side of her naked rib and the blackening bruise forming. “This thing _kills_. What’re the odds ya got something to help with that?”

“I think I can find something,” Alfred said with a bit of a smile as he got up. She was a likable one, this girl. Crazy as she was.

“What are you looking at?” Bruce asked from the couch as he shifted around and extended his legs on the cushions. The Joker ignored him for a moment, before he spoke- oddly quiet for a change.

“The city,” he nearly whispered, his breath fogging the glass for a moment. It must be colder than he thought out there- an early autumn, perhaps. “It’s quite impressive from up here, sugar.”

Bruce said nothing, and the silence called to the man. He pulled himself away from the window and walked over, settling on the edge of the couch, pressing against one of Bruce’s legs.

“You’re being rather, ah, _hospitable_ Bats. You haven’t kicked us out yet.”

“I’ll wait ‘til it’s dark,” Bruce said with a hint of a smirk. “Can’t very well drive you anywhere in the tumbler in broad daylight- and I don’t think it would be good PR to have you in my Lamborghini.”

The Joker chuckled at this, watched as Bruce flopped one of his arms under his head as a pillow. The Joker raised an eyebrow- a silent question, _is that an invitation?_ , and Bruce looked away coyly and shrugged his other shoulder. Smiling- oddly normal, for once- the Joker stretched out on the couch with him, chest to chest, and played with the ends of his dark hair.

“How _compromising_ , Batsy,” he said, but Bruce didn’t seem concerned. His belly was still a bit fuzzy from earlier, and part of him just wanted to wrap his arms around the clown for a bit. Besides, he was going to have to have a long talk with Alfred soon. If he saw this, it’d just be a starting point- though Bruce doubted it would come to that. He’d be wrapped up with Harley for a bit in the kitchen.

And he’d hear _her_ coming a mile away.

So when the Joker kissed him- rather chastely at first- he didn’t fight it. In fact, he shifted around and folded both arms around the man, holding him close as he kissed him back- slowly, lazily, as if they had all the time in the world, when Bruce knew that was far from the truth.

Harley popped the pills into her mouth and downed them with her coffee, nodding her thanks to Alfred.

“Ya think Bats is rich,” she mumbled as she finished the coffee, then stood up and stretched. “Is it alright if I go clean up a bit? I feel _disgusting_.”

“I can’t see a reason why not,” Alfred said. Sure, he could probably think of a hundred things she could do that were dangerous with anything she could find in a bathroom- but he didn’t feel the need to babysit her. Bruce was important to her and the Joker for this, which meant keeping him- and by connection, Alfred- unharmed.

Harley thanked him for breakfast and left the kitchen, about to head back down to her room, when she thought she’d ask _Mista J_ to join her. Maybe she’d get little more of what she got that morning.

Bare feet sinking into the overly plush carpet, she was oddly quiet as she walked towards the entrance to the parlor. She opened her mouth, about to call out- then froze.

Harley wasn’t sure if she was really seeing what she thought she was. The Joker, sprawled on top of Bruce, legs entangled, was weird enough- but not that odd, considering how they seemed to fall and tangle when they fought. But the fact that the Joker’s hands were buried in Bruce’s hair, that he was sliding and grinding against him and his mouth was completely ravishing Bruce’s- that was enough to make her question her sanity.

She pinched herself, felt the sharp pain and jerked away from her hand. It was still there- except now, one of Bruce’s hands had reached down, grabbed a handful of the Joker’s ass. Mouth dry, she tried to swallow, before turning and walking off in a huff towards the bathroom, a storm inside her of so many things she couldn’t tell one emotion from the other.

When night fell, she once again found herself crammed into the Tumbler with the two men. They had taken an extra moment for the Joker to make a few calls- all on a line in the Batcave that would appear encrypted, and then they were off to some inner city address the Joker had given. Harely wasn’t sure what he was planning.

She noticed, however, as Bruce- no, Batman now- drove, the Joker would lean over and appear to be looking at all the fun gadgets on his screen- how Batman would push him back and scowl, but the clown’s hand was always on his thigh, and lingered even after being pushed away.

Batman had tried to stay, but the Joker had insisted he not. “Be a good Bat and go on patrol,” he said, and blew him a kiss. Once, Harley wouldn’t have given that a second thought. Now, it made her shift from foot to foot- uncomfortable in the large shirt and her destroyed jeans and aching body.

The moment they were alone she grabbed the Joker by the arm, halting him as he tried to walk down the graffiti stricken streets.

“What the hell?” she asked, and he raised one delicate eyebrow at her.

“Not sure what you’re, ah, referencing, pumpkin, but-“

“Oh don’t pumpkin me,” she said, placing her hands against his chest and shoving him. He fell back against the rough brick of a building as she closed in. “What the fuck is going on with Batman?”

“Well, last _I_ knew, he was key to our winning this city-“

“Oh, not that _bullshit_ , Joker,” she said, placing one hand on the brick just over his shoulder. “I mean, what I saw this morning. You looked like a fucking high school _slut_ , ya know? And you say _I’m_ bad.”

He didn’t say anything for a moment, then just grinned- and Harley hated it. She wanted to punch his teeth in, smear the paint he had put on when night fell- leave an imprint of it on the wall, along with his broken teeth on the sidewalk. Instead she pinned him to the wall and kissed him, pressed flush to him and let one hand tangle in his green hair.

She waited for the heat, the knot in her belly that spread warmth down between her thighs, for the fuzziness in her veins and the light headed feeling she used to get. She waited, kissed, waited- but it never came. It was just his mouth on her’s- one of his hands clutching at her waist. Just a mouth, a hand, a movement that could belong to anyone.

She broke it off and turned away, more confused now than she had been that morning.

That call had been to some of the Joker’s men. He was assembling every little grunt he had had below him once, and before midnight Harley and he were both freshly clothed, wounds tended to again, and in one of the drug lord’s homes. The Joker was talking, rather enthusiastically, with him, while Harley just sat there, plucking at a loose thread in the couch.

She wondered where Ivy was- if she was back in her little underground apartment. She hadn’t really wanted to split with her- but Mista J had insisted, sent Ivy out to gather up Crane, where ever he might be, said he needed as few people as possible still when dealing with the Bat.

She drummed her fingers and frowned. It was hard to think of Batman now without seeing the Joker tangling with him, without seeing the clown arch against him and their mouths melting together.

_Kinda hot_ she admitted, now that her anger had subsided a bit. Still, _still_ , what the hell was really going on? What was he doing with the Bat, or all people? Was this part of his plan- but why didn’t he _tell_ her? Or was it...something more?

What worried her the most was how _little_ she really felt about it, except curiosity. She rage she felt had been fleeting, was gone with that empty kiss. The Joker had kissed her like he always did when she sprung it on him- had touched her in some way and moved that mouth sweetly but...but it just didn’t do _anything_ for her. Sure, it felt great, she knew that, could admit it, but there used to be something in her belly that would heat up like fire and warm her to her fingers and toes. Something that he lit up.

It hadn’t been there. And Harley wondered how long it had been gone- how long had she just not noticed?

“Harley,” he called to her, walking out. With his old suit gone, replaced with purple pinstripe and a black vest over his silk green shirt, curls slicked back, he had cleaned up nicely. He looked like contained chaos once again. “Up up _up_ pumpkin, it’s time to go.”

“Go where?” she asked, and he was grinning.

“To a show,” was all he said, and he held his gloved hand out for her.

The last thing Harley expected was to be packed into a nice care and driven to the center of Gotham. The Joker sat next to her, sometimes playing with some of her blonde hair, giving her cheek a little stroke. Still, her stomach stayed oddly settled.

For a moment, Harley thought he had been _serious_ , and she looked down at her red pinstripe pants, tucked into combat boots, at the black and mesh shirt she wore under her red jacket. She wasn’t dressed for this at _all_.

“What are we doin’, Mista J?” she asked as the car pulled over to the sidewalk. The Joker looked at her, grinned, and said in an even tone,

“We’re here for the show, Harley doll.”

It was that moment the explosion sounded, and the glass blew out of the bank on the opposite street, flames licking at anything within that would burn.

Harley threw her door open and climbed out, holding onto the car and staring. People screamed and fled from that sight of the street as the Joker climbed out, smacking his lips together before smiling.

“Ah, lovely light show,” he said, and Harley squinted as it grew brighter.

“Did ya do that, Puddin’?” she asked, and he grinned, and she expected some drawn out brag about how he had orchestrated the whole thing while they were under Bat’s nose.

Instead, all she got was, “No, this wasn’t me, doll.” And he kept grinning.

_What the hell is going on?_

Across the street, the fire began to spread from the bank to the other buildings, more pedestrians rushing out of them towards the “safety” of the streets. Harley squinted against the flame, and for a moment was sure she saw something _black_ hovering by one of the buildings, before it sparked like a match.

_Batman?_

“Not quite,” the Joker said, reading her mind. She stared at him for a moment.

“Is he one of our’s?” she asked, and the smile on the Joker’s face faltered.

“No,” he admitted, then slammed the door to the car closed. The sounds of sirens roaring up the streets let them know Gotham was reacting, but as it stood the street was burning rapidly. The cops could have their hands full evacuating it and the surrounding streets- the firefighters would be lucky to get it under control.

“He’s had his fun,” the Joker said suddenly, turning from Harley so she couldn’t see the chaotic gleam in his eye. “Let’s go crash his party.”

He walked towards the fires, and Harley hesitated for a moment, before sighing and deciding she’d followed him into crazies situations, _a little fire isn’t so bad_.

**Author's Note:**

> Ah, let's get back to the plot! As much as I love the Bats/Joker detours.
> 
> Also, I have a craaaazy week coming at work, and I'm finishing up finals, so if the updates slow for a bit- I do apologize :)


End file.
